Cutting apparatus.



H. L. HOPKINS.

CUTTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.1. lala.

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H. L. HOPKINS. CUTTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV I. 1913.

A ,A @@AA A l Patented July 11, 1916.

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'///////////////////////////4 u' yzf/xm" A HARVEY Il. HOPKINS, OFCHICAGO, ILLI HOWARD MCELROY, INDIVIDUALLY, A

TRUSTEE, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

NOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOI-IN ND ONE-HALF TO JOHN HOWARDlVIcELROY,

CUTTING APPARATUS.

Application filed November 1, 1913.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY L. HOPKINS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutting Apparatus,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention is concerned with an improvement in the cutting apparatusshown in my Patent No. 1,158,500, dated November 2, 1915, in which thelugs, which were permanently fixed on the knife sections, had to be setfarther back than they should have been to secure the most efficientaction in holding the sections down on the ledgerplates in order toprevent their interfering with the grinding of the knife-sections, andeven with the lugs set back to the proper position, it was somewhatinconvenient to grind the adjacent sections. To remedy this difliculty,in my present invention I make said lugs removable from theknife-sections in such a manner that they are securely held in operativeposition while the bar is in the machine, and yet are free to be removedentirely or swung out of the way when the knife-sections are inverted,as they are for grinding. By my present improvement, not only remedythis objection arising from the difficulty of grinding the adjacentknifesections, but I am enabled to place the lugs farther forward on thesections, so that their action in holding the knife-sections down on theledger-plates is as perfect as could be de-4 sired.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto two sheets of drawings, inwhich the same reference characters are used to designate identicalparts in all the figures, of which,-

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a cutter-bar embodying myinvention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line A--A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is asection through the sickle when it is removed from the machine, and asit appears when held in position for grinding the sections; Fig. 4 is aperspective view of the lug-supporting member which' I preferablyemploy; Fig. 5 is a similar view of the lug detached therefrom; Fig. 6is a view similar to' Fig. 1, but with the clip omitted, showing amodiiied construction; Fig. 7 is a view in section on the line B-B ofFig. 6; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the lug em- Specication ofLetters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1916.

Serial No. 798,637. y

ployed in this form of my invention; Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 7,but showing a still further modification; Fig. 10 is a top plan viewshowing the knife-section employed in the modification shown in Fig. 9;Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the lug used in the modification shownin Figs. 9 and 10; and Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a lug which maybe employed in a still further modification.

In carrying out my invention, the finger bar f and guard fingers g,secured thereto by bolts L, are of the customary construction; and thecutter-bar e and knife-sections y', secured thereon by rivets 7c, are ofthe customary construction in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive.In the form shown in Figs. 9'to 12, the knife-sections j are modiiied ina manner to be hereinafter described.

In my prior invention about every foot there is a clip o secured on thefinger-bar f by the bolts 7L passed through the parallel slots in saidclips 0, by which their position toward and from the fingers may beadjusted.4 In my present invention, the same general form of clips o areprovided, the only diiference being that said clips 0 are wider, orrather extend farther forward in order to cooperate with the lugs n,which are also placed farther forward in order to secure a moreeflicient coperation of the inclined bearing surface formed on the topof the lug with the coperating similarly inclined bearing surface formedon the under side of the forward edge of the clips to hold the sicklebardown with the knife-sections y' inv engagement with theledger-plates Zno matter how difficult the cutting may be.

In my prior invention the lugsn were rigidly secured in place on theknife-sections by being formed integral with the clip-blocks m, whichare shown as riveted on the knifesections by the rivets 70. In thepreferred form of my present invention, I provide said clip-block 'mwith ears m proj ecting upward from the rear edge thereof, and I providethe lug n with a hinge extension n', so that a pivot pin n2 serves tohold the lug n always connected to the block mwhether the sickle be inthe normal position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the bottom of the lugn, resting on the knife-section j in the recess m2 formed in the block mor not, said recess having vertical edges and having a shape correspond:

. merely to keep the lugs attached to the cutter-bar and prevent theirbeing lost While the sickles are removed for grinding. rI`he positionassumed by the lugs during the grinding operation Will Abereadily'perceived from Fig. 8Where the dotted circle indicates "thestone upon which theknife-sections are held during the grindingoperation.

' As I have heretofore stated, the hinge is provided merely to preventthe possibility of the removable lugs n being lost, and Where Athe useris Willing to take chances on their being lost, I employ themodification shown in Figs.` 6, 7 and 8, Where the lug f/b'is constructed exactly like the lug shown in Figs.

V1 to 5, but the hinge portion nis omitted,

j and in that case it Will be understood that the ears m are omittedfrom the block m.

VIn Figs. 9, 10 and 11, VI have illustrated a possible modification, inwhich the block m is dispensed With, and Vthe recess 'm20 is vformed inthe knife-section y, preferably directly over ythe cutter-bar c. In thiscase the lug n3 is provided on its under surface withY a projection'11,4 of substantially the' thickness of the knife-section 7" and having"the same shape'in horizontal cross-section as the aperture m20,inqivhich it fits When theparts are in operative position,`as shown inFig'. 9. In this form the same hinge portion a" is employed, but theears m11 in this f "case are preferably vmade integral with the sectionj.

In theV final modification shown in Fig. 12, the yknife-section employedis just the samel as that shown in Figs. 9 and 10 eX- cept that theearsm11 are omitted, AWhile the lug a5 is the same as that shown in Figs. 9and 11 except that the hinge extension a is omitted.

In usingV my invention, it will be vunderstood that Whenthe sickle is inthe machine,

the lugs are always in place cooperating With the clips; but when thesickle is being ground, the lugs, in'the form shown in Figs.

l'to 5 and l9 to 11, drop out of place and' hang down out of the'way, asshowninf Fig. 3. f

`Where the forni shown in Figs. 7, 8 and l12 Ais employed, when thesickle is removed for grinding, as soon-as it has been drawn vout sothat the lugs are clear of the clips o, the lugsare picked out of theirrecesses inV the sickle and preferably put in the users pocket until*the grinding is completed. When the sickle is ground and put back 'inplace, it is shoved in until the sections having the recesses a2 arenext to the clips, but

Vnot beneath them, when the lugs are putV back in place and the sickleYshoved home and connected up to the pitman in the customary manner.During the operation of the machine, the lugs are never entirely outfrom under the clips vWhich hold them in place, and the combined actionof the lugs and clips serves to hold the knife-sections down on theledger-plates to insure a shear cut, as it vvill be obvious that theharder the grass presses the sickle back, the more certainly theknife-sections will be forced by the cam action of the coperatinginclined surfaces down upon the ledger plates.

While I have shownV and described my invention as embodied in the formwhich I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, itwill be understood that it is capable of some modifications, and that Ido not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the followingclaims except as may be necessitated by the stateof the prior art. WhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is: l. In a device of the class described, the combination witha finger-bar, and guardfingers carried thereby, of a cutter-bar andknife-sections secured thereto adapted to reciprocate on the finger-bar,a plurality of lugs having bearing surfaces inclined relatively to theplane of the knife-sections and hinged thereon, and retaining clipscarried by the finger-bar and having correspondingly inclined bearingsurfaces coperating With the first-mentioned bearing surfaces.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination With a Afinger-bar, and guardfingers carried thereby, of a cutter-bar andknife-sections secured thereto adapted to reciprocate on the finger-bar,a plurality of lugs having bearing surfaces inclined relatively to theplane of the knife-sections and hinged thereon, retaining clips carriedby the finger-bar and having correspondingly inclined bearing surfacescoperating with the first-mentioned bearing surfaces, and

means independent of the hinges for holding the lugs in operatingposition.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with afinger-bar, and guardlingers carried thereby, of a cutter-bar andknife-sections secured thereto adapted to reciprocate on the finger-bar,a plurality of lugs having bearing surfaces inclined relatively to theplane of the knife-sections and hinged thereon, retaining clips carriedby the finger-bar and having correspondingly inclined bearing surfacescoperating with the first-mentioned bearing surfaces, and meansindependent of the hinges for holding the lugs in operating position,said means consisting of a recess carried by the knifesections and acorrespondingly shaped portion of the bottom of the lug which enterssaid recess, for the purpose described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with afinger-bar, and guardfingers ca rried thereby, of a cutter-bar andknife-sections secured thereto adapted to reclprocate on the finger-bar,a plurality of lugs having bearing surfaces inclined relatively to theplane of the knife-sections, and

retaining havlng surfaces clips carried by the nger-bar andcorrespondingly inclined bearing coperating With the first-mentionedbearing surfaces, said knife-sections having a therewith Copies of thispatent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the plurality ofrecesses associated in which recesses the lugs are my hand and aiiXedCommissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

